


Time to Pretend

by merycula (thanksillpass)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 21:38:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2285343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksillpass/pseuds/merycula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise and Kasamatsu decide to tell everyone they are together to get rid of girls but it turns out not to be enough</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time to Pretend

All things considered, it was a good deal, very rational. Almost too rational for someone like his ace to come up with, but Yukio had no reason to turn it down, on the contrary. Entering a fake relationship with Kise Ryouta was actually a brilliant idea.

For one, Kasamatsu wouldn’t have to worry about girls confessing to him anymore. Granted, it was a rare occurrence, but each one took its toll on Yukio, leaving him a flustered, shaking mess of embarrassment and humiliation. No more of those,  _thank god._

Another benefit would be blissfully uninterrupted basketball practice. Surely, Kise’s screaming fans would back off at least a little if he was actually unavailable, right? Kasamatsu couldn’t care less about being the object of their hatred, as longs as he could practice in peace.

Of course, the rumors about them wouldn’t stop at Kise’s fangirls. But Yukio was graduating this year and he could handle a few sniggers here and there. The only people whose opinion mattered were his teammates, and they seemed to be oddly fine with their captain and ace hooking up.

Unsurprisingly, Moriyama saw it as a blessing – “more ladies for him,” he said. Even more unsurprisingly, Hayakawa was very excited for them and even teared up a bit. Kasamatsu was embarrassed but Kise beamed left and right like he’s just won a lottery, not started dating the grumpiest guy at school.

Not much actually changed, their interaction-wise. They weren’t  _showing_  everyone how much in love they were. There was no way Yukio was going to start holding hands or, god forbid, light up like a freaking Christmas tree whenever he saw Kise. He didn’t even smile any more often.

Kasamatsu still had no qualms about kicking Kise’s ass when needed, still ignored over a half of his messages, still yelled at him for being late. And Kise still flirted with everything that breathed, still complained to everyone who cared to listen how “awfully Kasamacchi treated him.”

That, in hindsight, might have been why it wasn’t really working. Before long, they were cornered by some second-year who blatantly accused them of lying and demanded proof. Yukio instantly panicked, shouted at the poor girl and ran off, leaving Kise to deal with the situation.

“This was a stupid idea,” he decided when they met again at the afternoon practice. “It’s not working. They’re here again, slobbering all over you.”

Kise’s whined. “I’m sorry, senpai! It’s not like I can help that they won’t believe us!”

“You should try harder to act more like a couple,” said Kobori suddenly, giving them a blank look. “I know a couple when I see one. You’re definitely not a couple.”

Kasamatsu swallowed, uncomfortable with the idea that Kobori, of all people, saw right through them. He knew their teammate would never just rat them out, but Yukio still felt like a failure. If he wasn’t able to fool a basketball player, how was he supposed to convince a bunch of girls, probably trained in romance since infancy?

Kasamatsu looked at Kise, who worried his lip between his teeth, eyes fixed on his shoes. It was somewhat embarrassing, to realize so late that being in a pretend relationship would actually involve _pretending._  He felt really naïve for believing just  _saying_  they were together would be enough.

“Fine,” he decided. “But don’t expect me to be nicer, you’re still an idiot and I have low tolerance for idiocy. Rules. No kissing. No- ugh,  _hand-holding._  I don’t like hugs either.”

Kise blinked slowly and gaped. “What’s even left?!”

“It’s sad how obvious it is that neither of you had ever been in a relationship,” said Kobori, and Yukio had to agree.

They decided to start small – eating lunch together, stretching before practice together, leaving school together. They spent every moment when someone could see them together and Kasamatsu  _tried_  to be patient and react less impulsively. But it was difficult when Kise suddenly decided that being even more clingy and annoying was the key.

The actual problem with Kise having no respect for personal space was that Yukio was a teenager. It took  _much_  less than having a hard body pressed against his back and a hot breath fanning over his ear to get him excited, so Kise basically hanging all over him every day was a true test of will. He was supposed to  _pretend_ , not actually get turned on whenever Kise gave him the bedroom eyes.

The sad truth was that, as soon as Kise decided to treat him like one of his fans to appear more believable, Yukio came to understand every single one of those girls. Really, Kasamatsu would have to be blind  _and_  dead not to acknowledge that Kise Ryouta was almost offensively attractive. But knowing this was one thing, and having Kise’s seductive wiles directed at him was another.

He did all the little things that left Yukio flustered and uncomfortably hot – fixed his hair or tie and gave him a pleased smile after, dropped his voice when he was talking to him, or tried to get his attention by pushing his face so close that Kasamatsu could count his eyelashes. Yukio drew the line at Kise opening the door for him and kicked him inside, reminding him he wasn’t a girl.

However, with Kasamatsu’s personal discomfort came the hateful stares from the female population of the school, which was the original plan. Yukio was prepared to sacrifice his sanity for basketball, had been ever since he hadn’t kicked Kise out the first day he stepped foot on his court, so he continued to be the fake boyfriend, despite his gradually weakening will-power.

Thing was, it was really hard to dislike Kise, despite his many irritating personality traits. He changed since he first came to Kaijou, and Kasamatsu saw how much he tried to be not only a good player, but a good teammate. Yukio always admired him – he wouldn’t have made him his ace if he didn’t – but now he noticed that there was so much more to Kise than his basketball skills.

It was Kobori who made Kasamatsu realize he had an actual crush on Kise.

“I always knew that Kise was a good actor, but I didn’t think you had in you, Yukio.”

Yukio frowned, because he knew his acting skills were close to none. Then it hit him, and it all went downhill from there.

He started pushing Kise away when he didn’t manage to avoid him altogether, and Kise perhaps wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he got the hint pretty quickly. Cornered, Kasamatsu saw no other alternative.

“I don’t want to do this anymore. So, let’s fake-break up, or whatever.”

“But why, senpai? Did I do something to upset you? Is someone bullying you? What happened?”

Yukio sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Just. It’s enough. The entire school knows I’m gay already, so there’s nothing in it for me. You just- find someone else, I don’t care.”

“B-but-”

“Look, I’m sick of you treating me like one of your fangirls, okay? Find someone else.”

Kise stared at him, eyes wide and glistening. “I’m not?! I’m treating senpai like senpai! I never- Those girls- I’m treating senpai like a boyfriend!”

“Well, I’m not,” said Yukio. “I’m not your boyfriend. We’re only pretending.”

Kise opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed them back up, dropping his eyes to the floor. Kasamatsu huffed, bitter about being right, and turned around to leave.

“I wasn’t pretending,” muttered Kise, making Yukio halt in his steps. “Not for a second. I never cared about any of those girls, I just wanted to spend more time with you…”

Yukio turned around to look at him – he was still staring at the floor, the tips of his ears red. Kasamatsu swallowed, taking a cautious step forward, and Kise’s head snapped up at the sound of the footstep. He looked miserable and childishly offended at the same time, and he sniffled lightly before looking Yukio in the eye.

“But if senpai only wants to pretend then it’s fi-”

“Don’t!” snapped Kasamatsu, effectively shutting Kise up. “Don’t ever sell yourself that short!”

Everything aside – his confusion, his hopes and fears – he couldn’t let Kise diminish his own value like that. What had happened to this kid that made him so ready to put other people’s needs and wishes before his own, even if they weren’t worth a tenth of him? Yukio wanted to smack him, yell at him until he got it into his thick skull that he deserved better.

“Then what am I supposed to do if senpai doesn’t want me back?”

Kasamatsu startled. He hadn’t thought it up this far; the plan was to walk away and he definitely hadn’t anticipated this course of events. It was a mortifying prospect but, as much as he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole, he needed to say it.

“I want you,” he grunted, his face getting unbearably hot. “That’s why I didn’t want to pretend anymore.”

It took him a while, but Kise positively lit up, like that damn Christmas tree, and Kasamatsu regretted it a bit already. 


End file.
